Mikaela’s Choice Day

After the struggle with Alice’s Tea Cup yesterday, which was followed by a trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art - at which Mikaela enjoyed seeing a lot of cool stuff, but got frustrated by the “no touching” rules - we decided that today would be all Mikaela’s choice. 
So we started with fulfilling Mikaela’s desire to ride on a boat, by taking the free Staten Island Ferry ride.  We hung out on the outside deck - lower level on the way out and upper level on the way back.  We pointed out the Statue of Liberty and the boats and the big bridge, but Mikaela was most intrigued by the birds that hung out on the deck of the ferry along with the people riding it.  Mikaela befriended a cute little 2-year-old from the Bronx on the way onto the ferry on the Manhattan side.

From the Ferry, we hopped the subway uptown to get to the Children’s Museum of Manhattan.  Mikaela remembered it from the last time we were in New York, two years ago.  But first, we needed to grab some lunch and meet up with Aunt Bunny. 
We remembered there being several restaurants right around the Children’s Museum, and it turned out we had good memories.  Our first choice as Zabar’s Cafe, but they were swamped.  So we continued a few more blocks and stumbled upon Fred’s at Amsterdam and 83rd. As you can see, Mikaela thoroughly enjoyed herself.  The wait staff was friendly and accomodating, Mikaela’s chocolate chip pancakes made her happy, while Miriam and Bunny’s homemade granola with yoghurt, honey, and fruit (including a generous helping of mango) really hit the spot.  My chicken sandwich was moist and tasty, and by the time lunch came around, I’ll admit that I didn’t complain when I found out that the prix fixe brunch menu included a bloody mary

At the Children’s Museum, last time the featured exhibit was a Sesame Street theme.  This time, it was even better - Clifford the Big Red Dog downstairs, and Dora the Explorer upstairs.  In addition to the Clifford playground and the Dora exploration, a new area had opened since our last visit. In the courtyard, there was an area called City Splash.  It featured tubs full of water and various water toys to experiment with.  There was a water wheel, the water for which could be controlled by using foot pedals.  Mikaela linked together a series of plastic tubes and watched how the water flowed through them.  And she placed a toy boat at the top of a waterfall and watched it drop over the falls and then follow a series of troughs and tunnels to a large tub at the end. She certainly got wet, but the fun was well worth it. Miriam and Bunny slipped away during the water play to check out the Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker across the street.